[ad_1]
Vladimir Putin pledged to build a trade and security system with North Korea that is free from Western control and pledged unwavering support in a letter published on Tuesday by North Korean state media ahead of a planned visit to North Korea.
release:
2 minutes
In a letter published North KoreaPutin stated in the Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of Russia’s ruling party, that over the past 70 years, Russia and China have developed good relations and partnerships based on equality, mutual respect and trust.
“We will develop alternative trade and mutual settlement mechanisms that are not controlled by the West, and jointly resist illegal unilateral restrictions.” Putin “At the same time, we will create an equal and indivisible security architecture across Eurasia.”
He thanked North Korea for its support Russia North Korea said it had carried out a special military operation in Ukraine and vowed to support Pyongyang’s efforts to defend its interests despite “U.S. pressure, blackmail and military threats.”
The article was published a day after the two countries announced that Putin would begin a two-day visit to North Korea on Tuesday, his first trip to the country in 24 years.
Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Russia and North Korea could sign a partnership agreement including on security issues during the visit.
He said the agreement would not be directed against any other country but would “outline the prospects for further cooperation and would be signed taking into account what has happened in recent years between our two countries in the international political sphere, in the economic sphere … and, of course, in terms of security.”
The delegation will be joined by Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Putin’s energy czar, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.
Commercial satellite imagery shows North Korea appears to be preparing for a possible military parade in central Pyongyang ahead of Kim Jong Un’s visit.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller reiterated on Monday that North Korea has provided Russia with “dozens of ballistic missiles and more than 11,000 ammunition containers” for Ukraine.
He said the United States had seen Putin “get extremely desperate over the last few months” and wanted to make up for battlefield losses with Iran and North Korea.
Both Moscow and Pyongyang deny transferring arms.
North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes, measures that have been tightened over the years.
The Security Council has been divided over the past few years on how to deal with Pyongyang. Russia and China have said further sanctions are not helping and want to ease such measures. They proposed lifting some sanctions in December 2019, but never brought a draft resolution to a vote.
In May 2022, the two countries vetoed a U.S.-led push for more UN sanctions on North Korea following another launch of a ballistic missile. In March, Russia vetoed a proposal to renew the panel of experts that monitors the implementation of UN sanctions.
China and Russia say joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises have angered Pyongyang, while Washington has accused Beijing and Moscow of emboldening North Korea by shielding it from more sanctions.
After North Korea, Putin will visit Vietnam from June 19 to 20.
（Reuters）
[ad_2]
Source link
